About Pick the Month

Pick the Month exists because "what's it like in June?" deserves an answer, not six charts. For each place we publish the whole year at a glance — typical highs and lows, how many days usually see rain, how long the days are — plus a verdict that follows published rules and a packing list derived from the same numbers.

The weather data is the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information's U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020, public-domain federal data. The station behind every page is named on it. If you spot a mismatch between a place and its station, tell us — a wrong page is worse than a missing one here, and we would rather drop a place than defend a bad match.

Monthly weather summaries are historical averages for trip planning only — they are not forecasts, and the weather in any given month will differ.